The Vatican has given a health update on Pope Francis’ health after the Pontiff was admitted to hospital with bronchitis last week.
Pope Francis is said to be in a ‘stable’ condition and does not have a fever.
Despite this, his current bout in hospital has already surpassed a previous hospitalisation for pneumonia in 2023.
The Vatican is yet to provide a timeframe for when Francis will return to his duties and a spokesperson has already confirmed that the Holy Father’s General Audience for the week had been cancelled.
Spokesperson Matteo Bruni said the results of tests indicate the 88-year-old is suffering from a polymicrobial respiratory tract infection that has necessitated another change in his drug therapy since being hospitalised on Friday.
Scientists say polymicrobial diseases are caused by a mix of viruses, bacteria and fungi.
Vatican News reported that Francis’ condition remains ‘stable’ and he does not currently have a fever.
Mr Bruni said Francis ate breakfast, read the newspapers and received the Eucharist yesterday after a third peaceful night.
Pope Francis using a wheelchair earlier this month. Francis is said to be in a ‘stable’ condition and does not have a fever
The Vatican is yet to provide a timeframe for when Francis will return to his duties and a spokesperson has already confirmed that the Holy Father’s General Audience for the week had been cancelled
Candle tributes to the Pontiff outside Rome’s Gemelli hospital where Francis is staying
And in a sign the Pontiff was still keeping up with some of the essentials of his routine, the parish priest of the Catholic Church in Gaza, the Rev. Gabriel Romanelli, reported that the Pope had maintained his daily video call to the church on Friday and Saturday night. He sent a text message on Sunday.
‘We heard his voice. It’s true, it was more tired,’ Rev. Romanelli told Vatican News. ‘But we heard his voice clearly and he listened to us.’ Francis has made contact with the Argentine priest every day of the Gaza war.
He was admitted to Rome’s Gemelli hospital in a ‘fair’ condition on Friday after a week-long bout of bronchitis worsened.
The Pope had part of one lung removed after a pulmonary infection as a young man and is prone to bouts of bronchitis in winter.
Bronchitis, or an inflammation of the airwaves, can be relatively mild in a healthy person, but may be more severe in someone who is older or has lung problems.
The concern, however, is that antibiotics and other drugs don’t work in isolation and require the body to respond, which, given Francis’s other problems, may make recovery more challenging.
Dr Nick Hopkinson, medical director of the Asthma + Lung UK foundation, who is not involved in Francis’s treatment, said: ‘All of that makes him a little bit more vulnerable potentially, but we just have to wait and see.’
He added that after doctors clinically identify what is wrong, they can start treating the infection with the correct therapies.
The Pope had part of one lung removed after a pulmonary infection as a young man and is prone to bouts of bronchitis in winter
The Argentine Pope is a known workaholic who keeps up a gruelling pace despite his increasingly precarious health.
In addition to his bouts of respiratory infections in winter, he uses a wheelchair, walker or cane because of bad knees and suffers from sciatica nerve pain.
When he had a bad case of pneumonia in 2023, he left the hospital after three days and only acknowledged after the fact that he had been admitted urgently due to feeling faint and having a sharp pain in his chest.
This time around, the Pontiff insisted on finishing his audiences on Friday before leaving the Vatican, even though he was having trouble speaking because he was so short of breath.
Francis’s continued hospitalisation has already forced the cancellation of some events connected to the Vatican’s Holy Year and put others in question.
The official Vatican calendar online has no more appointments or activities for Pope Francis in February, and picks up only on March 5, Ash Wednesday.
A recent statement from the Vatican, seen by Vatican News, said: ‘Pope Francis is touched by the numerous messages of affection and closeness that he has been receiving in recent hours.
‘He especially wants to extend his thanks to those who are hospitalized at this time, for the affection and love they have expressed through drawings and messages of good wishes; he prays for them and asks that they pray for him.’